Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre
Encyclopedia
- The QSAC was formerly known as ANZ Stadium. ANZ now holds the naming rights for Sydney's Stadium Australia.
The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC), more commonly known by its former names ANZ Stadium or QE II, is a major sporting facility on the south side of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. From 1993 to 2003, QSAC was the home of the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
, who play in National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
.
History
The facility opened in 1975 and was officially named Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Sports Centre by the Queen in 1977. It was constructed in close proximity to both the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee HospitalQueen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital
The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital is a public hospital located in Coopers Plains, Brisbane, Australia.The hospital originally was developed to be a site for future expansion of the Mater Children's Hospital, a center for servicing the needs of the Commonwealth Games held nearby and a range...
and Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
campus, which provided athlete accommodation.
The original roofed stadium was intended to be the only permanent seating facility. The remainder of the stadium seating was built as "temporary" seating and was intended to be removed after the Commonwealth Games had finished. Public opinion resulted in the unroofed temporary seating being retained as permanent.
The stadium was named ANZ Stadium from 1993 to 2003, when it was the home of the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...
rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
football team. The stadium currently has a capacity of 48,400 people, although the record crowd is 58,912, set during the Super League
Super League (Australia)
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...
Grand Final, Brisbane v Cronulla, in 1997. The capacity can be increased to 60,000 with the use of extra temporary seating in front of the Eastern and Western grandstands. These were removed when the running track was relaid for the 2001 Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
.
In 1999, ANZ Stadium hosted eventual champions Australia in their Davis Cup Semi-Final win over Russia 4-1. Temporary grass courts were erected up one end of the field and temporary stands on 3 sides. The crowd capacity for this event was 10, 600. 1999 Australian Open Champion and Russian Davis Cup player Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Russia. He won two Grand Slam singles titles , four Grand Slam doubles titles, and the men's singles gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games. He also helped Russia win the Davis Cup in 2002...
described the court "like playing on a potato field" and "that court is just not acceptable for this kind of event”.
In 2002, ownership transferred to the Queensland Government Major Sports Facilities Authority and the venue was given its present name.
The stadium has hosted a number of events, including:
- Australian Championships in AthleticsAustralian Championships in AthleticsThe Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athletes wishing to compete at the Olympic Games,...
- State of OriginRugby League State of OriginState of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...
games - 1982 Commonwealth Games1982 Commonwealth GamesThe 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September–9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium , in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the...
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- 24 November 1993 - The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
- 12 April 1995 - The Eagles - 24 November 1995
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- 19 November 1996 - 1997 Super League Grand Final
- 1999 Davis Cup1999 Davis CupThe 1999 Davis Cup was the 88th edition of the most important tournament between nations in men's tennis. A total of 128 nations participated in the tournament. In the final, Australia defeated France at the Acropolis Exhibition Hall in Nice, France, on 3–5 December, giving Australia their 22nd...
Semi-Final tie vs. Russia - 2001 Goodwill GamesGoodwill GamesThe Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
- An assignment on the third season of The MoleThe Mole (Australia season 3)The third season of the Australian version of The Mole took place mostly in Gold Coast, Queensland and was hosted by Grant Bowler.-Show Details:...
, filmed in early 2002, where the contestants had to draw an animal using the painting machines normally used to mark the playing fields. - The Red Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
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The stadium is still actively used by athletes at a local, State and National level Many local clubs such as Thompson Estate and Eastern Suburbs Athletics
Thompson Estate and Eastern Suburbs Athletics
Thompson Estate and Eastern Suburbs Athletics is Brisbane's oldest sporting club, founded in 1900. Run by volunteers, it caters for athletes and cross country runners of all abilities....
use it regularly for training.
The stadium has also permitted students of the neighboring Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
(Nathan campus) to use its expansive carpark, free of charge. This is due to the relatively low availability of parking as well as the cost of parking on the campus (there is no free parking). Students who don't mind the ten minute walk from the stadium take advantage of the large carpark.